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Das aus San Francisco stammende four-piece kehrt mit ihrem ersten neuen Album seit sechs Jahren zurück.

Ein Album, an dessen Anfang anders als zuvor die Musik von Gitarrist und Pianist Niko Wenner stand und nicht Sänger Eugene S. Robinson’s Texte.

So wurde das Album von Wenner’s Familie inspiriert. Der Geburt seiner zwei Kinder und dem Tod seines Vaters.

Wie bei den Vorgängeralben so kommen auch auf 'Love's Holiday' unterstützende Instrumente zum Tragen, doch sind es dieses Mal vor allem menschliche Stimmen, die den neuen Songs ihren besonderen Reiz geben. Kristin Hayter (Lingua Ignota) leiht dem Song Lovely Murk ihren opernhaften Gesang, während das mehrschichtige Chorbett von 1000 Hours von Roger Joseph Manning Jr (Jellyfish/Beck) stammt. Das Album enthält außerdem einen 15-köpfigen Chor sowie Streicher, Oboe, Flöte und Klarinette.

1973 veröffentlichte ein junger, weitgehend unbekannter 20-Jähriger sein Debütalbum, die erste Veröffentlichung bei einem brandneuen Label. Der Künstler war Mike Oldfield, das Album „Tubular Bells“ und
das Label Virgin Records. Das Album wurde zu einem Phänomen, erreichte die Spitze der britischen Charts, gewann einen Grammy und gab den Startschuss für eine makellose Karriere.

Zum 50- jährigen Jubiläum veröffentlicht Mike jetzt ein brandneues Abbey-Road-Master (als sogenanntes „halfspeed master) des Originalalbums in halber Geschwindigkeit sowie ein zweites Album, das zum ersten Mal mehrere betörende Versionen von Oldfields Meisterwerk „Tubulas Bells“ vereint. Besonders interessant ist das brandneue achtminütige Tubular Bells 4 Intro, das möglicherweise das letzte von Oldfield aufgenommene Stück ist. Das Album ist nun in einer 2 LP-, oder CD-Version erhältlich.

'Jump Into Love' is the new album from Half Japanese, true DIY noise-rock royalty, led by the ever-effervescent Jad Fair. It's a meeting of minds, a coming together from the world's favourite indie-alt-rock outsiders. Atypically out there and off-kilter, the album wears its heart on its sleeve through a cascade of new, dark and brooding songs from the band who would be king. Loved by Kurt Cobain, Daniel Johnston, Penn Jillette and outsiders everywhere, Half Japanese continue their quest for answers; creating a soundscape for a post-zombie land where bells chime and it's OK to say "Yes". It's another adventure; series 20 from an introspective parallel world where the super prolific Jad Fair cogitates on life, love, giants, the possessed and even bigger issues that simply swell the brain. Musing on the writing process, Jad explains "I feel a need to do music and do song writing. It's something I really miss when I'm not doing it. There's a certain amount of tranquillity that's obtained from the fact that you can be working on songs each day. I think you use that certain portion of your brain that is otherwise not used. I kind of kind of prefer using it than not using it." Half Japanese currently includes Jad with John Sluggett, Gilles-Vincent Rieder, Mick Hobbs and Jason Willett, a veritable who's who of DIY indie culture. 'Jump Into Love' was recorded at Tempo House, Baltimore, Russian Recording, Bloomington Indiana, Studio de la Trappe, Donneville France and la Casamurada, Tarragona Spain. The album was mixed by long time Half Japanese sparring partner Jason Willett at his home in Baltimore, Maryland. "Amid hard-riff jams, swinging ditties, lovelorn ballads and other catchy gems, Jad persistently breathes life into the Half Japanese" NPR "One of indie rock's most reliable sources of positivity" Pitchfork

Futurismo are proud to present a first time reissue of the killer 1985 album: Just A Million Dreams by the uncompromising Alan Vega.

The remastered version of this LP comes with two unreleased bonus tracks produced by Liz Lamere and Jared Artaud of The Vacant Lots. It is packaged in a gloss laminated sleeve with a huge fold-out poster and contains new liner notes by Henry Rollins.

Presented in a remastered deluxe vinyl package, Just A Million Dreams, produced by Ric Ocasek and Chris Lord-Alge, takes Vega on an expedition into new territory. As an artist Vega had a crucial drive, but having a hit record was never a motive, neither was pandering to expectations, which is why Just a Million Dreams is perhaps a perfect statement for that moment, bettering the then bastions of MTV rock without even trying, an exercise in subversion that still has Vega’s unique artistry at its core. Would you expect anything less from one half of NYC legends Suicide? Perhaps not, but the hows and whys to Vega landing himself in such a mainstream position are perhaps just as fascinating as the record itself.

Here Alan Vega’s vocals sound better than ever, full of emotion and brooding honesty. Lyrics painting images of dystopian love might be a sideways move away from the intense nihilism of his past, but it’s still the real deal. Alan Vega could not be anything else. Listen to tracks like ‘Creation’ and you still get that raw emotion he spent his career honing. Set against the grandeur of mid 80’s production: big processed drums, runaway guitar solos, we get a rare peak into what Vega would sound like if he was allowed to be a rock star drenched in the sonic excesses of the era. It was a brave and unfairly misunderstood move, but the components come together to form an incredible anti-commercial, commercial album. Just A Million Dreams is the sound of Alan Vega taking on the 1980’s and winning.

With help of the official Vega Vault, two never before heard tracks have been unearthed from the 1985 JAMD recording sessions and brought to life by long time collaborator Liz Lamere and Jared Artaud of The Vacant Lots, adding a new insight to the recordings. Henry Rollins also lends a new written perspective, making this release a vital addition to the collections of Alan Vega and Suicide fans. It has been said that Alan Vega is forever, his unwavering artistic approach can be witnessed throughout his career, whether as part of Suicide or as a solo songwriter, poet or sculptor. Just a Million Dreams is just another example

Western Massachusetts band Landowner play abrasively clean minimalist-punk. Singer Dan Shaw began Landowner in 2016, writing and recording Impressive Almanac with a practice amp and a laptop drum machine. Those available tools would inform the band’s unapologetic sound—clean, confrontational, and absurdly stark. With a stated goal to sound like “Antelope playing Discharge”, Landowner’s diamond hard structures, repetitious instrumentals and caricatured hardcore make space for lyrics that reflect on the global systems our lives are tangled in and the dark absurdities we take for granted.

Landowner’s fourth Born Yesterday full length Escape the Compound focuses on the powerful grips manipulators and reality-deniers have on their victims, examining the social, political and interpersonal damage of cult-like influence and control. “A lot of the lyrics focus on cult manipulators and narcissists: falling victim to their toxic dynamics, and the difficulty of escaping their grip” says Shaw. From climate change deniers and conspiracy theorists to deceptive narcissists and actual cult leaders, Landowner explores the ubiquity of modern unreality through evocative imagery and a keen sense of awareness. The band’s plain instrumentation sheds and subverts hardcore punk’s noisy veil in favor of a direct, unswerving examination of these themes.

Written and recorded following the release of 2020’s Consultant, Escape the Compound finds Landowner leaning into the studio through deeper experimentation with a wider palette of sounds. The group’s lineup of Josh Owsley (bass), Elliot Hughes (guitar), Jeff Gilmartin (guitar), Josh Daniel (drums) and Dan Shaw played often since coming together in 2017. But with pandemic restrictions in place, the making of Escape the Compound became a much more insular pursuit, one where the mixing and mastering process helped turn the band’s most varied batch of material into a cohesive, thematic collection of songs.

Album opener “Witch Museum” is a collage of dark Massachusetts historical imagery. The song evokes a kind of cult dynamic travelling like a shadow through time, where dark absurdities are taken for granted, toxic behaviours are excused, and normalcy begins to shift. The line “Gail's behaviour has changed” casts fictional “Gail” as the dark manipulator, whose whim we’re at the mercy of. She sheds her toxic behaviour and the crisis finally ends - “and peace returns to the Commonwealth”- an absurdity, given that cult leaders and narcissists rarely seem to change.

By considering the past, Landowner sheds light on the present. The band challenges egomaniacs reluctant to accept an uncomfortable reality with both cynicism and concern. The literal landowner described in “Heat Stroke” collapses in exhaustion, cooked by a suffocating bass line and sizzling hi-hats. “You'd rather die of heat stroke than to let anybody see you change your mind,” Shaw gasps, later pleading with the character in “Floodwatch” to “please reconsider” their brazen stubbornness as they plunge through the rising waters of a flooded road.

The character in “Swimmer of Note” refuses to admit their miscalculations, instead doubling down on an ever-growing and increasingly-unsteady tower of lies. The sneering “Damning Evidence” sets a scene all too familiar: a smoking gun scenario with zero consequences. Shaw’s exaggerated vocal refrains and sarcastic inflections mock false hope: “how will they be expected to keep their minds intact, at the shock of simply hearing such damning evidence?”

“Beyond the Darkened Library” creaks open a secret passageway into a dimly lit, endless labyrinth of conspiracy theories, in which the character becomes hopelessly lost. “Aftermath” sounds the alarms: “stare so long that you start getting used to it; one glance says you should never get used to it.” The pair of “Tactics” tracks express what Shaw calls “an interpersonal microcosm of the album’s themes.”

Perhaps the most ambitious arc on Escape the Compound loosely begins with the title track. The subject in “Escape the Compound” gradually recognizes their own victimhood and plans a calculated flight from the “captivating shepherd” – hop the fence, flee, and regain autonomy. As the narrator escapes their stifling and abusive cult microcosm, a much grander existential timeline begins to appear. “Thousands of Years in Fast Forward” narrates a psychedelic surrender to the shared human experience through space and time, an ego-death adjacent to our ancestry, our own existence, and the before and after. “At the site of the crater, molecular hands unclasp molecular hands as you lose conditioning,” Shaw sings on the title track, “Your grandmother's garden. Your grandmother's kitchen. Your grandmother's primordial ocean.” It’s a profound actualizing glimpse into a true, forgotten reality and a startling reconnection with the self.

An incredible 45 of Latin disco – recorded in Peru during the late 70s by funk pioneers Black Sugar, and right up there with the best from New York and LA of that era! It’s taken over four decades 'Baila' to become a winner spin at international events in the soul and disco scenes, a sought-after collector's item and, above all, the dancefloor hit that should have always been. First time reissue. Black Sugar is a Peruvian band, considered a pioneer group in Latin America in mixing funk influences with rock and Latin rhythms. In 1976, following their gig at Coliseo Amauta in Lima, opening the night for the legendary Spanish band Barrabás, they started to show a growing interest in disco music, resulting in some line up changes with members leaving the project due to their lack of interest in the new sound and new ones joining in. Word is that Sono Radio, home to a bunch of local Tamla MoTown releases for the Peruvian market, thought that Black Sugar's prestige, and their credibility in the new orientation towards disco sound, would benefit from seeing their new single pressed with the labels of the famous record company from Detroit. And so it was. Under certain lights and shadows, ‘Baila’ was finally released in Peru only in 1978, sporting the same look as the releases of the likes of Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, Commodores or Thelma Houston. A clever marketing ploy that however failed in boosting the sales of the single…Only a few original copies have survived to this day, of either the first and the second edition from 1979 released on the US label Libra, and reached the collectors market. It’s now, over four decades later, when the interest on this recording has gone stronger and ‘Baila’ is getting regular spins at international soul/disco scene events, having become a very sought-after collectors item and, on top of that, the dance floor anthem that should have always been. The stunning piano arrangements of the intro, the outstanding brass sections —faithfully copied from the disco recordings coming from the States—, a very catchy chorus… ‘Baila’ has all the necessary ingredients to become an addictive invitation to join the dance floor. On the B side, a cover version of Barry White’s hit ‘Sha La La (Means I Love You)’ —as appeared on the original issue of this record— shows what the interest of the band was at the time. First time reissue. TRACKLIST Side A Baila Side B Sha La La (Means I Love You)

As the void stares back at me, I am consumed by the waves of this new sonic transmission. ESP's Goblin Synth reigns supreme, guiding me into the darkest corners of my mind, as the Galaxian remix shatters my being into a thousand pieces. This release is a frenzied piece of IDM, braindance, and DnB, fueled by a chemical fury that leaves my mind in a state of pure ecstasy. The relentless pace and shifting soundscapes of the A-side are the perfect conduit for the raw power of the Galaxian remix, taking me beyond the limits of what I thought was possible.

On the B-side, I am treated to a liquid dnb homage that is no less relentless in its pursuit of sonic intensity. Here, the rhythms are more organic, more fluid, but no less potent in their ability. This is music that demands a total surrender of the self.

The insidious rhythms of ESP's Goblin Synth seize my consciousness like a viral agent, rendering my being porous and open to the twitching, glitching transmissions emanating from the depths of the machine. With each stuttering break and howling, modulated synth line, I am hurled headlong into a world of ravenous, cybernetic abandon - a blackened, dystopian horizon of shattered glass and flickering neon.

As my mind is hijacked by the rushing currents of amphetamine psychosis, I realize that this is no mere exercise in genre or form, but an all-out assault on the very fabric of reality itself. The sonic textures here are hyper-real, beyond the grasp of normal human perception - this is the sound of the post-human, the sound of the inhuman, the sound of a future that is rapidly bearing down upon me, whether I am ready or not.

And yet, amidst the chaos and decay, there is a kind of perverse beauty at work - a beauty that can only be glimpsed through the shattered glass of my own shattered subjectivity. With each burst of static and each crunching bassline, I am hurled deeper into a vortex of metallic, crystalline wonder, a realm of pure, unadulterated sound that is as terrifying as it is sublime.

LP includes Poster.

When Sacred Bones first began their Mort Garson reissue project in 2019 with a proper reissue of Plantasia, the Garson-naissance began in earnest. Soon after, you could hear Mort Garson and his Moogs bubbling up on TV shows, documentaries, podcasts, hip-hop tracks, or anywhere else, the man a cultural phenomenon once more.

Like a perennial that returns with each new spring, the Mort Garson archives have brought to bear yet another awe-inspiring bloom.

Journey to the Moon and Beyond finds even more new facets to the man's sound. There's the soundtrack to the 1974 blaxploitation film Black Eye (starring Fred Williamson) alongside some newly unearthed music for advertising. Just as regal is "Zoos of the World," where Garson soundtracks the wild, preening, slumbering animals from a 1970 National Geographic special of the same name.

The mind reels at just what project would have yielded a scintillating title like "Western Dragon," but these three selections were found on tapes in the archive with no further information. The crown jewel of the set is no doubt Garson's soundtrack to the live broadcast of the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing, as first heard on CBS News. That's one small step for man, one giant leap for Moogkind. But for decades, this audio was presumed lost, the only trace of it appearing to be from an old YouTube clip. Thankfully, diligent audio archivist Andy Zax came across a copy of the master tape while going through the massive Rod McKuen archive.

So now we get to hear it in all its glory. Across six minutes, Garson conjures broad fantasias, whirring mooncraft sounds, zero-gravity squelches, and twinkling études. It showcases Mort's many moods: sweet, exploratory, whimsical, a little bit corny, weaving it all together in a glorious whole.

Maybe at the time it scanned as crass and opportunistic for Garson to apply his keyboards to subjects like astrological signs, the occult, hippiedom, houseplants, or the moon landing. But more than most other electronic music pioneers of his ilk, Garson foresaw the integration of such electronics into our daily lives, how they would allow us to engage with the world.

LP includes Poster.

When Sacred Bones first began their Mort Garson reissue project in 2019 with a proper reissue of Plantasia, the Garson-naissance began in earnest. Soon after, you could hear Mort Garson and his Moogs bubbling up on TV shows, documentaries, podcasts, hip-hop tracks, or anywhere else, the man a cultural phenomenon once more.

Like a perennial that returns with each new spring, the Mort Garson archives have brought to bear yet another awe-inspiring bloom.

Journey to the Moon and Beyond finds even more new facets to the man's sound. There's the soundtrack to the 1974 blaxploitation film Black Eye (starring Fred Williamson) alongside some newly unearthed music for advertising. Just as regal is "Zoos of the World," where Garson soundtracks the wild, preening, slumbering animals from a 1970 National Geographic special of the same name.

The mind reels at just what project would have yielded a scintillating title like "Western Dragon," but these three selections were found on tapes in the archive with no further information. The crown jewel of the set is no doubt Garson's soundtrack to the live broadcast of the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing, as first heard on CBS News. That's one small step for man, one giant leap for Moogkind. But for decades, this audio was presumed lost, the only trace of it appearing to be from an old YouTube clip. Thankfully, diligent audio archivist Andy Zax came across a copy of the master tape while going through the massive Rod McKuen archive.

So now we get to hear it in all its glory. Across six minutes, Garson conjures broad fantasias, whirring mooncraft sounds, zero-gravity squelches, and twinkling études. It showcases Mort's many moods: sweet, exploratory, whimsical, a little bit corny, weaving it all together in a glorious whole.

Maybe at the time it scanned as crass and opportunistic for Garson to apply his keyboards to subjects like astrological signs, the occult, hippiedom, houseplants, or the moon landing. But more than most other electronic music pioneers of his ilk, Garson foresaw the integration of such electronics into our daily lives, how they would allow us to engage with the world.

SOMNURI hält sich nicht an der Oberfläche fest. Der Heavy Metal der Band stapft von Genre zu Genre mit der Inbrunst und dem Selbstvertrauen einer Band, die bereit ist, die Schwellen zu allem Wahrnehmbaren und Möglichen zu überschreiten. Die Band, bestehend aus Lead-Gitarrist und Sänger Justin Sherrell, Schlagzeuger Phil SanGiancomo und Bassist Mike G, hat sich die Aufmerksamkeit von Magazinen wie Revolver Magazine, BrooklynVegan, MetalSucks, MetalHammer und anderen verdient und ihr neuestes Werk ist ein wahrer Beweis für die unersättliche Arbeitsmoral der Band, die sie als einen der aufregendsten aufstrebenden Acts des Heavy Metal zementiert.

Aufgenommen in den Gojira Silver Cord Studios, abgemischt von Justin Mantooth in den Westend Studios und gemastert von Brad Boatright bei Audiosiege Mastering, bewegt sich die Band auf „Desiderium“ nahtlos durch eine Vielzahl von Tempi und Klängen und gibt einigen ausgetretenen Pfaden neue Wege vor. Songs wie „Paramnesia“ kommen wie eine schlammige Abrissbirne daher und erinnern in ihren stärksten Momenten an Eyehategod und Crowbar. Anstelle von Moshparts zieht sich die Band zurück und lässt Sherrell ein paar cleane Vocals einstreuen, bevor sie wieder voll angreift. Sherrells Stimme ist wahnsinnig vielseitig und kann sowohl gefühlvolle cleane Vocals als auch grimmige Schreie liefern. Sie ist der perfekte Kontrast zu den Instrumenten der Band, die ein Band zwischen Sludge, Grunge, Psych-Rock und mehr weben.

Western Massachusetts band Landowner play abrasively clean minimalist-punk. Singer Dan Shaw began Landowner in 2016, writing and recording Impressive Almanac with a practice amp and a laptop drum machine. Those available tools would inform the band’s unapologetic sound—clean, confrontational, and absurdly stark. With a stated goal to sound like “Antelope playing Discharge”, Landowner’s diamond hard structures, repetitious instrumentals and caricatured hardcore make space for lyrics that reflect on the global systems our lives are tangled in and the dark absurdities we take for granted.

Landowner’s fourth Born Yesterday full length Escape the Compound focuses on the powerful grips manipulators and reality-deniers have on their victims, examining the social, political and interpersonal damage of cult-like influence and control. “A lot of the lyrics focus on cult manipulators and narcissists: falling victim to their toxic dynamics, and the difficulty of escaping their grip” says Shaw. From climate change deniers and conspiracy theorists to deceptive narcissists and actual cult leaders, Landowner explores the ubiquity of modern unreality through evocative imagery and a keen sense of awareness. The band’s plain instrumentation sheds and subverts hardcore punk’s noisy veil in favor of a direct, unswerving examination of these themes.

Written and recorded following the release of 2020’s Consultant, Escape the Compound finds Landowner leaning into the studio through deeper experimentation with a wider palette of sounds. The group’s lineup of Josh Owsley (bass), Elliot Hughes (guitar), Jeff Gilmartin (guitar), Josh Daniel (drums) and Dan Shaw played often since coming together in 2017. But with pandemic restrictions in place, the making of Escape the Compound became a much more insular pursuit, one where the mixing and mastering process helped turn the band’s most varied batch of material into a cohesive, thematic collection of songs.

Album opener “Witch Museum” is a collage of dark Massachusetts historical imagery. The song evokes a kind of cult dynamic traveling like a shadow through time, where dark absurdities are taken for granted, toxic behaviors are excused, and normalcy begins to shift. The line “Gail's behavior has changed” casts fictional “Gail” as the dark manipulator, whose whim we’re at the mercy of. She sheds her toxic behavior and the crisis finally ends - “and peace returns to the Commonwealth”- an absurdity, given that cult leaders and narcissists rarely seem to change.

By considering the past, Landowner sheds light on the present. The band challenges egomaniacs reluctant to accept an uncomfortable reality with both cynicism and concern. The literal landowner described in “Heat Stroke” collapses in exhaustion, cooked by a suffocating bass line and sizzling hi-hats. “You'd rather die of heat stroke than to let anybody see you change your mind,” Shaw gasps, later pleading with the character in “Floodwatch” to “please reconsider” their brazen stubbornness as they plunge through the rising waters of a flooded road.

The character in “Swimmer of Note” refuses to admit their miscalculations, instead doubling down on an ever-growing and increasingly-unsteady tower of lies. The sneering “Damning Evidence” sets a scene all too familiar: a smoking gun scenario with zero consequences. Shaw’s exaggerated vocal refrains and sarcastic inflections mock false hope: “how will they be expected to keep their minds intact, at the shock of simply hearing such damning evidence?”

“Beyond the Darkened Library” creaks open a secret passageway into a dimly lit, endless labyrinth of conspiracy theories, in which the character becomes hopelessly lost. “Aftermath” sounds the alarms: “stare so long that you start getting used to it; one glance says you should never get used to it.” The pair of “Tactics” tracks express what Shaw calls “an interpersonal microcosm of the album’s themes.”

Perhaps the most ambitious arc on Escape the Compound loosely begins with the title track. The subject in “Escape the Compound” gradually recognizes their own victimhood and plans a calculated flight from the “captivating shepherd” – hop the fence, flee, and regain autonomy. As the narrator escapes their stifling and abusive cult microcosm, a much grander existential timeline begins to appear. “Thousands of Years in Fast Forward” narrates a psychedelic surrender to the shared human experience through space and time, an ego-death adjacent to our ancestry, our own existence, and the before and after. “At the site of the crater, molecular hands unclasp molecular hands as you lose conditioning,” Shaw sings on the title track, “Your grandmother's garden. Your grandmother's kitchen. Your grandmother's primordial ocean.” It’s a profound actualizing glimpse into a true, forgotten reality and a startling reconnection with the self.

OUTER HEAVEN return with their crushing new album, Infinite Psychic Depths! The album, an exploration into the darkest depths of extreme music, showcases OUTER HEAVEN's muscle, as the band churns out some of 2023's most visceral and frenetic slabs of twisted Death Metal. Taking advantage of guitarists Jonathan Kunz’s and Zak Carter’s penchant for technical prowess and rhythmic galloping with melodic catchiness, OUTER HEAVEN bridges the worlds of dark n’ dank despair and upbeat hookiness. Austin Haines' vocal delivery is as unchained as ever, barking and growling through interwoven stories of societal collapse, hallucinogens, mutations, and more, connecting Infinite Psychic Depths to their acclaimed debut, Realms of Eternal Decay. Methodological riffing swirls around muscular half-time clobbering in both “Soul Remnants” and “Unspeakable Aura". “Pillars of Dust” and “Liquified Mind” take the listener on a journey from the furthest reaches of the Earth’s exosphere to the sweat and spilled beer of a dive bar moshpit. “Fragmented Suspension” gives a backhand to the genre tunnel vision with a tendinitis-inducing palm muted shuffle that’s part Norwegian black metal iciness and part classic ‘80s L.A. hardcore skate punk. Recorded by Ryan Reed and mixed and mastered by Greg Wilkinson at Earhammer Studios, Infinite Psychic Depths throws a few tricks and guest appearances into the mix with bass playing by Derrick Vella from Tomb Mold, as well as vocal contributions from Pig Destroyer’s JR Hayes, Morbid Angel’s Steve Tucker and Alex Jones from Undeath. The new album also features a special appearance by Dave Suzuki (Churchburn, ex-Vital Remains) doing a trade-off solo on “Rotting Stone/D.M.T.”

If you are a death metal fan, GRACELESS shouldn’t need an introduction. Three full lengths and two split EPs have granted the Dutch ensemble a respectable reputation across the globe. Closer to home, the four piece has played countless live shows since their 2016 inception. The rock solid line up -unchanged since day one- has delivered ferocious, high energy live performances at Eindhoven Metal Meeting, Into the Grave, Party San Metal Open Air, Ruhrpott Metal Meeting, Stonehenge, SDF2021 and many more festivals and clubs. Joining forces with LISTENABLE RECORDS in 2023 is the next thundering milestone for GRACELESS. Tirelessly working on their fourth full-length, the next chapter for GRACELESS will be another step deeper into the abyss that started with Shadowlands (2018), via Where Vultures Know Your Name (2020), to Chants from Purgatory (2022). For fans of DEATH, ASPHYX, GORGUTS, BOLT THROWER, AMON AMARTH, BLOODBATH

If you are a death metal fan, GRACELESS shouldn’t need an introduction. Three full lengths and two split EPs have granted the Dutch ensemble a respectable reputation across the globe. Closer to home, the four piece has played countless live shows since their 2016 inception. The rock solid line up -unchanged since day one- has delivered ferocious, high energy live performances at Eindhoven Metal Meeting, Into the Grave, Party San Metal Open Air, Ruhrpott Metal Meeting, Stonehenge, SDF2021 and many more festivals and clubs. Joining forces with LISTENABLE RECORDS in 2023 is the next thundering milestone for GRACELESS. Tirelessly working on their fourth full-length, the next chapter for GRACELESS will be another step deeper into the abyss that started with Shadowlands (2018), via Where Vultures Know Your Name (2020), to Chants from Purgatory (2022). For fans of DEATH, ASPHYX, GOREFEST, BOLT THROWER, AMON AMARTH, BLOODBATH

Am 14. Juli starten Aerosmith eine umfassende Neuauflagen-Reihe ihres Katalogs erstmals über UNIVERSAL MUSIC. Diese umfasst die Jahre 1974-2012 in welchen die Alben ”Aerosmith”, ”Draw The Line”, ”Get Your Wings”, ”Honkin’ On Bobo”, ”Just Push Play”, ”Live! Bootleg”, ”Music From Another Dimension”, ”Nine Lives”, ”Toys In The Attic”, ”Rocks”, ”Night in the Ruts” und ”Rock In A Hard Place”, von den amerikanischen Rocklegenden veröffentlicht wurden.
Aerosmith ist die meistverkaufte amerikanische Hard-Rock-Band aller Zeiten und hat weltweit mehr als 150 Millionen Tonträger verkauft, davon mehr als 85 Millionen in den USA. Mit 25 Gold-, 18 Platin- und 12 Multi-Platin-Alben halten sie den Rekord für die meisten Auszeichnungen einer amerikanischen Band und sind die Band mit den meisten Multi-Platin-Alben einer amerikanischen Band. Sie haben 21 Top 40 Hits in den US Hot 100, neun Nummer 1 Mainstream Rock Hits, vier Grammy Awards, sechs American Music Awards und zehn MTV Video Music Awards gewonnen. Im Jahr 2001 wurden sie in die Rock and Roll Hall of Fame aufgenommen und belegten Platz 57 bzw. Platz 30 auf der Liste der 100 grössten Künstler aller Zeiten des Rolling Stone und von VH1. 2013 wurden Tyler und Perry in die Songwriters Hall of Fame aufgenommen und 2020 erhielten sie den MusiCares Person of the Year Award.

Am 14. Juli starten Aerosmith eine umfassende Neuauflagen-Reihe ihres Katalogs erstmals über UNIVERSAL MUSIC. Diese umfasst die Jahre 1974-2012 in welchen die Alben ”Aerosmith”, ”Draw The Line”, ”Get Your Wings”, ”Honkin’ On Bobo”, ”Just Push Play”, ”Live! Bootleg”, ”Music From Another Dimension”, ”Nine Lives”, ”Toys In The Attic”, ”Rocks”, ”Night in the Ruts” und ”Rock In A Hard Place”, von den amerikanischen Rocklegenden veröffentlicht wurden.
Aerosmith ist die meistverkaufte amerikanische Hard-Rock-Band aller Zeiten und hat weltweit mehr als 150 Millionen Tonträger verkauft, davon mehr als 85 Millionen in den USA. Mit 25 Gold-, 18 Platin- und 12 Multi-Platin-Alben halten sie den Rekord für die meisten Auszeichnungen einer amerikanischen Band und sind die Band mit den meisten Multi-Platin-Alben einer amerikanischen Band. Sie haben 21 Top 40 Hits in den US Hot 100, neun Nummer 1 Mainstream Rock Hits, vier Grammy Awards, sechs American Music Awards und zehn MTV Video Music Awards gewonnen. Im Jahr 2001 wurden sie in die Rock and Roll Hall of Fame aufgenommen und belegten Platz 57 bzw. Platz 30 auf der Liste der 100 grössten Künstler aller Zeiten des Rolling Stone und von VH1. 2013 wurden Tyler und Perry in die Songwriters Hall of Fame aufgenommen und 2020 erhielten sie den MusiCares Person of the Year Award.

Am 14. Juli starten Aerosmith eine umfassende Neuauflagen-Reihe ihres Katalogs erstmals über UNIVERSAL MUSIC. Diese umfasst die Jahre 1974-2012 in welchen die Alben ”Aerosmith”, ”Draw The Line”, ”Get Your Wings”, ”Honkin’ On Bobo”, ”Just Push Play”, ”Live! Bootleg”, ”Music From Another Dimension”, ”Nine Lives”, ”Toys In The Attic”, ”Rocks”, ”Night in the Ruts” und ”Rock In A Hard Place”, von den amerikanischen Rocklegenden veröffentlicht wurden.
Aerosmith ist die meistverkaufte amerikanische Hard-Rock-Band aller Zeiten und hat weltweit mehr als 150 Millionen Tonträger verkauft, davon mehr als 85 Millionen in den USA. Mit 25 Gold-, 18 Platin- und 12 Multi-Platin-Alben halten sie den Rekord für die meisten Auszeichnungen einer amerikanischen Band und sind die Band mit den meisten Multi-Platin-Alben einer amerikanischen Band. Sie haben 21 Top 40 Hits in den US Hot 100, neun Nummer 1 Mainstream Rock Hits, vier Grammy Awards, sechs American Music Awards und zehn MTV Video Music Awards gewonnen. Im Jahr 2001 wurden sie in die Rock and Roll Hall of Fame aufgenommen und belegten Platz 57 bzw. Platz 30 auf der Liste der 100 grössten Künstler aller Zeiten des Rolling Stone und von VH1. 2013 wurden Tyler und Perry in die Songwriters Hall of Fame aufgenommen und 2020 erhielten sie den MusiCares Person of the Year Award.

*Very limited LP reissue on blue vinyl*

Canadian crooner star Calvin Love’s long sold out debut album ‘New Radar’ now as a repress for its 10th year anniversary on blue vinyl.
New Radar’, Love's debut album, blends memories of the late '80s cassette/analog era, '90s cable-TV generation, and 'aughts social media confessionalism into a satisfying collage of evocative and moody yet familiar and comforting music.

From the simple synths of "Magic Hearts", which bemoans love gone wrong, to the frustrating relationship detailed in "Waiting On You", Love's music is both catchy and emotionally resonant. In "Treasure Hunters", a flirty yet laid-back bubblegum rock and roller, Calvin Love invites us to share our secrets. while in "Missions", snarky, wailing guitars duet with Love's vocals in a noisy wash of exchanged frequencies. Throughout, Love relies on throwback synths and jangly guitar sounds to pick out unorthodox melodies, driven by a dutifully clicking drum machine. The overall effect of New Radar is a uniquely nostalgic yet forward-looking sound, at once evocative and comforting.

Calvin Love's music is distinctively characterized by its sparse yet focused arrangements, featuring thin guitars, electronic drums, and vintage synthesizers that impart a warm and wooly electronic texture. The lo-fi, cassette, 4-track recording quality creates an ambiance that feels both retro and futuristic, as if transmitted from an intimate and isolated space. Despite the arena-rock hooks, Love's use of primitive home-recording gear lends his music a folksy quality indebted to artists ranging from Ariel Pink to Unknown Mortal Orchestra.
About Calvin Love:

"Led by singer-guitarist Gini Jungi, the quartet have a driving, glittery sound that takes a plunge into punk, grunge and psychedelia." - L.A. WEEKLY

Second LP from Annie Taylor who recorded 'Inner Smile' with uber-producer Ali Chant (known for his work with Yard Act, Katy J. Pearson, Aldous Harding, Sorry) in Bristol.
Since their 2020 debut album, 'Sweet Mortality' - a record that blends pop, psychedelia, and grunge into a beautiful mid-point - Annie Taylor has gone from playing at poorly-equipped venues to supporting the likes of Wolf Alice.

“Rather admirably, virtually any of these songs could be a single -they hit the right spot between raw and pretty, making Sweet Mortality utterly charming from start to finish” - The Shindig! Magazine

This is the vinyl version of the CD released back on 19th May 2023. The multi-platinum hitmaker rocked the stage in her native Atlanta at Mary J Blige’s Strength of a Woman festival, alongside R&B superstars including Ms. Lauryn Hill, Muni Long and Lucky Daye. Before that, she joined the all-star lineup at Lovers and Friends in Las Vegas, the Pharrell-led Something in the Water and the legendary Dreamville Festival in North Carolina. Thanks to these appearances, Summer brought her music and artistry to her ever-increasing fanbase and cemented her reign as one of the most in-demand live acts in the industry today.

Sometime in 1984, San Diego native Anthony "Antone" Williams found himself sitting alone at Pure Sound Studios, tinkering around with a drum machine. Eventually he landed on a "sinister groove" which would lay the propulsive foundation for his hauntingly melodic tour de force, "Windows of My Mind." Released the following year as a seven-inch single on his own Unity Records label, the song features Antone's otherworldly production. Some have referred to the result as "post punk soul," but we'll let you be the judge.

Coming up in San Diego in the Seventies, part of an extensive musical family, Antone's creative fuse was lit by the sounds of Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind & Fire, and the Jackson 5.. At the age of 13, he was performing in area clubs, making a name for himself. By age 22, he had opened his own recording studio, Pure Sound. The influence of Sly and the Family Stone was decisive for Antone, who took to wearing a star-shaped gold necklace, not unlike the one famously worn by Stone on his epochal 1975 LP High on You.

"Windows of My Mind" was Antone & The Underworld's sole release. Limited to 500 copies and handed out as a promotional tool for a purported album of the same name, the single didn't get much traction. (A story as old as time.) Perhaps the music was ahead of its time and Antone's visionary message will finally sink in 2023. "I didn't want to make a song like Shake Your Booty", he says now. And yet we think that this long-lost record with its "sinister groove" is eminently danceable, almost 40 years later. We challenge you to take a listen to this home-grown 1985 7", remastered directly from the original tape, and make an assessment of your own.

'Seven Years Of Love' is our second label compilation with nine original tracks by resident artists and friends from around the world. The versatile vibe spreads across two parts, each dedicated to a certain dancefloor mood: System 108 and RadugaDiscoClub. Outstanding artwork has been created by Uno Moralez.

Part 1 of the compilation is opened by new Locked Club gem that playfully recycles a well known video meme, 'Smog Izdevatsya'. Followed by Philipp Gorbachev's industrial / house / dub infused (!) fairy tale about a bird. ('Raven'). The last track of side A comes from our new shooting star, Maksimovna. Originally sent as a demo, '3a Gribami' tells a story about collecting mushrooms, it got signed immediately and is destined to become a big hit! Time to flip the side and enter the kingdom of dark physical beats and fun acid blackouts on side B: it is Kovyazin D who is back at it with 'Brainwash'. Disconnected electro mind, disconnected electro mind, disconnected electro mind! Closing out the EP is an exclusive by Inga Mauer. Rare to hear Inga's vocal experiments provide a transcendental experience in 'Comes From Nothing'

"The Aggression Sessions" ist der Nachfolger von "The Depression Sessions" aus dem Jahr 2016 und folgt demselben 6-Song-Mini-Album, bei dem jede Band eine Originalsingle und einen Coversong anbietet. Für diese Session covern THY ART IS MURDER Cannibal Corpse und FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY At The Gates, während MALEVOLENCE einen Song der amerikanischen Sängerin Anastacia übernehmen.

THY ART IS MURDER, einer der australischen Exportschlager, feiert derzeit das 10-jährige Jubiläum ihres bahnbrechenden Albums "Hate". Morgen wird die Band den letzten Termin ihrer US-Tournee in Patchogue, NY, spielen. Die nächste Station ihrer "Decade Of Hate"-Welttournee ist Europa, wo sie die Bühne mit ihren Labelkollegen FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY teilen werden.

Die sechsköpfige Band FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY aus New Jersey hat im Januar 2022 ihr sechstes Album "Oh What The Future Holds" veröffentlicht.

Mit ihrem von der Kritik hochgelobten neuen Studioalbum "Malicious Intent" haben MALEVOLENCE ihren Platz als eines der Schwergewichte des zeitgenössischen Metals gefestigt. Die aufstrebenden britischen Stars sind nun auf dem Weg, die Welt zu erobern, und haben bereits das Publikum auf Festivals wie dem Download Festival, dem Bloodstock Festival, dem Knotfest Germany und dem Bring Me The Horizon Malta Weekender umgehauen, nicht zu vergessen eine riesige UK-Arena-Tour mit ARCHITECTS und SLEEP TOKEN sowie Termine auf dem EU-Festland mit LAMB OF GOD.

If you are a death metal fan, GRACELESS shouldn’t need an introduction. Three full lengths and two split EPs have granted the Dutch ensemble a respectable reputation across the globe. Closer to home, the four piece has played countless live shows since their 2016 inception. The rock solid line up -unchanged since day one- has delivered ferocious, high energy live performances at Eindhoven Metal Meeting, Into the Grave, Party San Metal Open Air, Ruhrpott Metal Meeting, Stonehenge, SDF2021 and many more festivals and clubs. Joining forces with LISTENABLE RECORDS in 2023 is the next thundering milestone for GRACELESS. Tirelessly working on their fourth full-length, the next chapter for GRACELESS will be another step deeper into the abyss that started with Shadowlands (2018), via Where Vultures Know Your Name (2020), to Chants from Purgatory (2022). For fans of DEATH, ASPHYX, GOREFEST, BOLT THROWER, AMON AMARTH, BLOODBATH

Es ist endlich soweit: Nach 250 weltweit ausverkauften Live-Shows, mit über 1 Millionen verkauften Tickets, veröffentlichen Greta Van Fleet ihr drittes Album ”Starcatcher”.

Die Grammy Gewinner aus Michigan, deren erste beide Alben ”Anthem Of The Peaceful Army” und ”The Battle At Garden’s Gate” jeweils auf #3 der deutschen Albumcharts debütierten, greifen diesmal auch schon beim Albumtitel nach den Sternen. Ein starker Vorbote ist die erste Single ”Meeting The Master”, die sich von einem zarten Akustik Intro zu einem Rock-Monster entwickelt. Zehn Songs enthält das neue Album, die sich mit der Dualität zwischen Fantasie / Realität und dem Kontrast zwischen Licht und Dunkelheit, befassen.

Das Album wurde von der Band geschrieben und von Grammy-Gewinner Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile) produziert. Die Aufnahmen fanden in den legendären RCA Studios in Nashville statt.
”Starcatcher” erscheint am 21.07. in verschiedenen physischen Formaten.

Repress!

Detroit's Rebecca Goldberg, aka 313 Acid Queen, releases 5 techno bangers incl. Mark Broom remix on Phoq U.

Phoq U Phonogrammen, the rebellious U-TRAX sublabel, returns after 26 years with its eight release, produced and manufactured in Detroit. Detroit native Rebecca Goldberg, who has previously released music and performed live under her 313 Acid Queen alias, will present her brand new People Mover EP at the Detroit Movement festival, on May 26, 2023.

The EP features 5 dancefloor fillers, including the Detroit-style remix by Mark Broom of the opening track Automated. The EP is inspired by transportation, industry and travel, as well as the city of Detroit of course, paying homage to the original minimal techno music and the evolution of technology and industry.

All tracks are live jams, recorded in one take on all hardware instruments. Rebecca tries to do as little post-work as possible, with just a little bit of final arrangement. Her work often incorporates field recorded sounds, and for this EP she used samples recorded while riding on the Detroit People Mover itself, the elevated automated light rail system in downtown Detroit. Goldberg started a sound walk group called Detroit Frequency and the recordings were taken on during the first event last summer.

The EP kicks off with the fast-paced Automated, that echoes the hypnotic minimal techno sound of Robert Hood. Mark Broom added an extra dose of 909 funk in his Mark Broom remix, which provides the track with even more pumping rhythms and making it sound even more 'classic Detroit'.

The B-side opens with Elevated, that features industrial-ish DPM sounds on a bed of pure acid, as if Goldberg wants us to remember why she is named the 313 Acid Queen.
Staying On meanwhile, puts a repeating DPM announcer's voice central stage, making it a fascinating piece of minimal techno. The closing track Linear Motion creates a dark atmosphere, with eerie, down-pitched DPM sounds that makes this a spooky techno trip that we believe many people will love.

Japanese born but nowadays NYC resident, DJ Monchan is a long-time purveyor of Disco edits and early House music, something you'll clearly hear on his debut release on GAMM.

The first track 'What is your love worth' is really something special as it starts off with a gritty and raw early house loop but then makes a dramatic turn over to high energy NY Disco...and then back to the grit.
A great jam session!

The B-side offers a deeper Disco-House track that easily could've been released in the early 90's on any of the relevant NYC labels of the time.

After a first release by a member of the crew, Love Reaction is proud and humbled to welcome on the label one of Geneva’s rising stars and longtime friend, Mirlaqi.

With this record, he offers a simple yet poetic groove : Disco and balearic in their broadest sense, tinged with his signature touch of Spatial House.

A very personal project, produced in collaboration with family and friends. He has known the instrumentalists on bassoon and sax since high school. The singer, with her spellbound voice, is now a recurring partner, featured on every record he released. He also brought his cousin into the equation, to help him on his journey back to his origins, as she translated parts
of the texts to Armenian.

A-side includes the most organic tracks of the record, that, while still suited to make you dance, will also fit perfectly as a soundtrack to end a shiny afternoon in front of the ocean. On the flip, the clubbier tracks : An original production, This Color, which is the track that inspired the cover art, and a remix by parisian italo-maestro LeonxLeon. Expect the most infectious grooves the balearic spectrum could offer and prepare to dance, not on the beach this time, but rather in orbit, on the red sand of Mars

Brutal Nature Redux is a continuation of Rhys Fulber’s “Brutal Nature” album and art concept, featuring remixes by carefully curated artists. Years of Denial’s take on “Rogue Minority” injects some emotion and humanity into the stark and aggressive original while preserving the driving bass riff and lifting it into the sound of a futuristic tribal gathering. Berlin’s Sarin is up next, leaning into the future EBM style he also shares with Fulber but amping up the intensity and apocalyptic dance floor elements of Central State Institute. Night Render is given a darker and more sinister sheen by up-and-coming Bulgarian producer, Evitceles. The nature elements of the original are replaced by a cinematic dystopia, akin to salvaging lost technology in a ruined city. Orphx add their rhythmic sophistication to “Stare at the Sun, tripping and refining the original down to its base elements while tuning Sara Taylor’s (Youth Code) screams across what appears to be several channels of short wave radio. Qual’s radical re-interpretation of “Pyrrhic Act” brings elements of Fulber’s past history in EBM right to the fore, creating a groove that’s both retro and very modern, slowing it down so the tension hangs heavier in the air. Lastly but certainly not least, Vanity Productions highlights the “nature” of “Fragility”, accentuating it with delicate clouds hanging in an air of contemplation; darkness and light coexisting in thick emotional textures. A fine way to close out this collection of cohesive individualism.

Repress!

Funkiwala Records presents the third in the series of "Lokkhi Terra meets"albums, with the London fusionistas creating another unique sound-clash, this time with ex-Fela Kuti keyboardist and legendary UK Afro-beat ambassador Dele Sosimi, and members of his critically acclaimed Afro-beat Orchestra.

This particular collaboration has been bubbling away for a few years now, teasing audience expectations with a handful of sold out shows each year in between both bands busy schedules.
Featuring the two pianos of Kishon Khan and Dele Sosimi – Cuban percussionists/vocalists Geraldo De Armas (Yoruba Andabo), Oreste Noda (Ariwo), Javier Camilo (Ibrahim Ferrer) - a horn section led by Justin Thurgur (Bellowhead) featuring Yelfris Valdes (Sierra Maestra) and Graeme Flowers (Kyle Eastwood) to name a few – this is an All-star cast.

Kishon Khan's Lokkhi Terra have over a number of years now been quietly establishing themselves as one of London's more unusual heavyweight outfits, described as "Stunning Headliners… A majestic multi-cultural blend of sounds… effortlessly builds bridges between rolling Indian raga rhythms, Afro-Cuban grooves, Acid Jazz/funk and free flowing improvisation" (Timeout London). Included amongst the band members are London's top Cuban musicians, adding their infectious rich musical history to the city's melting pot.
When the band wanted to explore Cuban links with another of their favourite traditions, Afrobeat, who better to bring in then one of the Afrobeat originators – maestro Dele Sosimi – "Sosimi creates some of the most bewitching grooves in modern African music" E Jazz News.
Bringing together two Yoruba speaking musics - with different accents, from different sides of the Atlantic - Havana meets Lagos in London – A Cuban-Afrobeat-Experience. CUBAFROBEAT.

All About Jazz 4star review

A younger version of London's Grand Union Orchestra, founded by world-jazz pioneer Tony Haynes in 1982, Lokkhi Terra was put together by keyboard player Kishon Khan in 2005. Both ensembles have made a specialism of jazz / South Asian fusion, with Lokkhi Terra also giving as much attention to music from Cuba, where Bangladeshi-born, London-based Khan lived for a while in the early 2000s.

Cubafrobeat, as the title foretells, is a blend of Cuban dance music and Nigerian / Yoruban Afrobeat—a fusion rendered seamless by the synergies existing between Afro-Cuban and Yoruban music, language and mythology. The album is Lokkhi Terra's third and partners the band with the keyboard player and vocalist Dele Sosimi .

A young-going-on-child-prodigy member of Fela Kuti's Egypt 80, Sosimi went on to become musical director of Femi Kuti's Positive Force, before relocating to London and setting up Dele Sosimi's Afrobeat Orchestra, the finest Afrobeat band outside Nigeria, bar none, now with a string of consistently engaging albums under its belt. Cubafrobeat features Sosimi as lead vocalist on all four tracks, and on Fender Rhodes on two of them. His singing plays a prominent role in the Afrobeat Orchestra, but, such is the whirlwind impact of the band in full instrumental flight, that Sosimi is often thought of first and foremost for his keyboard and arranging talents. That may change by the time 2018 is over. Cubafrobeat is the third album in as many months to feature Sosimi as guest vocalist, spotlighting the gravitas, air of mystery, intimacy and ferocity his voice can bring to an occasion.

The first of these albums was the genre-bending spiritual-jazz band Emanative's Earth (Jazzman). One of the stand-out tracks, "Ìyáàmi," features Sosimi making obeisance to the titular Mother Goddesses of the Yoruba spirit worlds. His raw and intense invocations carry the track for nine mesmerising minutes. Otherwordly is not the half of it. Next up was dub / reggae / jazz band Soothsayers' Tradition (Wah Wah 45s), which featured Sosimi as lead vocalist on the compelling "Sleepwalking (Black Man's Cry)." Earth and Tradition are both outstanding albums and have previously been reviewed here.

Cubafrobeat is a total stonking blinder, too. It is an effectively nuanced affair, opening with the fiery "Afro Sambroso" and closing with the relatively reflective "Rumbafro." Sosimi's vocals light up the music, as do the several solos from trumpeters Graeme Flowers and Yelfris Valdes Espinosa and trombonist Justin Thurgur (a member of both Lokkhi Terra and the Afrobeat Orchestra). Sosimi and Kishon Khan's intertwining Fender Rhodes solos on "Cubafro" are also a delight, as is the drum and percussion section throughout.

The sound of summer, for sure, Cubafrobeat has enough depth and variety to make it something for all seasons.

Songlines 4star review

Lokkhi Terra are one of London's most authentic groups. They are a Latin-flavoured collective whose keyboard player and bandleader Kishon Khan segues from percussive montunos to complex Bengali rhythms and back, with jazz chops sparking funky and outward-looking fusions. Their collaboration with Dele Sosimi, Britain's foremost Afrobeat ambassador, has been bubbling for a while; here four tracks at ten minutes see musical conversations that never lose their sense of flow. An extensive line-up of stellar players, including trumpeter Yelfris Valdés, conguero Oreste Noda and trombonist Justin Thurgur, highlights the genre-crossing potential of world traditions. Opener 'Afro Sambroso' showcases batá drums from Gerardo de Armas Sarria before the track links Cuban grooves with Afrobeat. 'Timbafro' crackles and sways via Khan's organ, Sosimi's vocals and Oscar Martinez's timbales. 'Cubafro' features dazzling interplay between Khan, Sosimi and Javier Camillo's Spanish-language vocals. 'Rumbafro' is all rumba choruses, Yoruba vocals and Afrobeat horns. Rooted in their sources, but with musical threads intertwining, separating and reconfiguring – with grooves at a premium – this is a fusion lover's dream

For the last twenty years, Sami Yenigun has DJed, thrown parties, released records and built community in Washington DC. He lived in and helped produce the underground event space Subterranean A. He's a co-founder of the DC mega party ROAM. He started the label 1432 R alongside Joyce Lim and Dawit Eklund. He's made music for Future Times, World Building, Rhythm Section, and Ghostly International. He’s produced for Dreamcastmoe and jammed with the Lifted crew.

Sami's also an award-winning journalist and Executive Producer of the largest afternoon news broadcast in radio, All Things Considered. He's won a Peabody, a Murrow, A World Press Photo Award and a National Press Club Award for his work, which includes creating a show with the legendary DJs Stretch and Bobbito, serving as editor of NPR's podcast about race, Code Switch, and covering elections, epidemics, insurrections, and of course, music.

It’s a lot, but whether finding a flute that fits, an extra battery for his Marantz, or the energy to make beats after a week of telling stories, Sami's enthusiasm for life, and the people in it, make it work.

The latest record, Elevate, is a testament to that enthusiasm. Four tracks that crackle and pulse with the same electricity that runs through all of what he makes. Just as Sami's interests in his personal and professional life are ranging, so are his tastes for club fare, and you can hear it on this release.

Four views of mother nature: a forest and a mountain range; a wicked city and a well. Traced from house and techno, through a lens and back.

It's a body of work that continues to branch and build. Elevate is a step into Sami's next chapter: Where flutes, stories, queerness and truth curve together.

Mammoth industrial & noise tracks from the illustrious B. Rupp on the outer-worldly Accidental Meetings.. Tip!

There's not much about B. Rupp, an outstanding LP on Opal Tapes sticks out, but the artist stays very much behind closed doors. They're the latest on the Accidental Meetings discography, a label whose fast growing catalogue shows no signs of stopping with challenging and forward releases.

Within the LP, the narrative is focused on fierce & noisy hardware, crunched out vocals, moody bass lines and swampy beats. All orchestrated by B. Rupp, it's a deeply personal album exploring his take on teetering the line between emotional home listening & noised out club bangers. We're keeping this short and sweet as the LP is so unique, words don't really do it justice - dig in and give it some ears.

It's the summer of salute. The Manchester-based producer makes his debut on Steel City Dance Discs. In salute's words: "Ultra Pool is a selection of club tracks I started making as lockdown restrictions were being lifted and shows started rolling in again. Over the last few years, I've been revisiting a lot of the French House records I used to listen to as a teenager – I wanted to let that influence shine through as I'm a huge fan of that sound. I wanted a body of work that was both very high energy and harmony-heavy, and I think Ultra Pool is the perfect way to summarise where my head is at right now"

Shapes of Rhythm is proud to present the self-titled debut LP of Turkish psychedelic pop from MLDVA & Çınar Timur. This record is a celebration of the classic music and culture typically of the 70s and 80s, but which also leans into western jazz funk and soul jazz moments. If you're into the Turkish music legends of the 70s and 80s such as Barış Manço and more recently Altın Gün or Derya Yıldırım & Grup Şimşek, you've come to the right place.

MLDVA were formed in Krakow, Poland in 2013 as a DJ and production outfit. Under the influence of Greek and Turkish folk and psych-rock music they began to transform into a band, taking up instruments including the Saz which is one of the most recognisable trademarks of the Turkish sound. Two years later in 2015 they invited Turkish instrumentalist Çınar Timur to join them and this completes the line up on their debut. This electric album is packed with excellently-recorded expansive tracks which are full of energy, psychedelic deep grooves, hard-hitting breakbeats and everything else you'd expect with classic Turkish sounds.

The instrumental double-header of Neşat Erkaş' Zülüf Dökülmüş Yüze, moving into the time-honoured traditional Kozan Dağıis the perfect opening track. The introduction is an overture of sorts with two minutes of Çınar Timur's pondering guitar. This tees up the record perfectly before heading into a break-beat driven workout with the band matching Çınar's evocative and energetic riffing. The result is a tight sound and a heavy groove that sets the tone for what's to come.

With the band unveiled, Sarı Çizmeli Mehmet Ağa, written by Barış Manço (a legend in Turkish popular music), hits a relaxed, deeper and more psychedelic groove, dominated by Wojciech Długosz's dreamy Rhodes piano, set against choppy wah-wah guitar licks that characterize that classic electric Turkish pop sound. We're introduced to Ulaş Çıbuk's vocals for the first time, telling the historic tale of a charitable village lord Mehmet Ağa from 19c Anatolia known for his generosity. He shared his fortune with people inneed and as a result, died penniless. This track also features the unique sound of Çınar's Mictrotonal electric guitar.

Bir Adım Öte is MLDVA & Çınar Timur's magnificent mellow moment, marking the halfway point in their debut. The group shows that it's not all about the frenetic in a nod to western Soul-Jazz constructs. They showcase restraint, emotion and that joy in repetition of a wonderful guitar refrain. Not content with holding this down, Wojciech Długosz's Rhodes solo steps into a world that's US-influenced Soul jazzand is a lesson in reduction and feeling. Çınar Timur then takes a solo turn, keeping it western-influenced with an on the spot improvisation. When the three minutes of solos are over, we're brought back out of thedream and towards the East again.

Adımız Miskindir Bizim kicks off like a hip hop/funk crossover tune, until the chord changes muscle in, to remind you where you are in the world. As with other tracks on the debut, the tune is marked by recurring motifs, this time from Çınar's microtonal electric guitar. We've more solo Rhodes action, thist ime busier and more urgent. The lyrics–originally written by Yunus Emre – criticizevalues such as holding grudges that destroy ideas of love, friendship and peace among people which causes hostility. Adımız Miskindir Bizim concludes with an uplifting vocal vamp which switches it up unlike any of thetracks on the LP.

In Fesupanallah– made most popular by Erkin Koray – Ulaş Çıbuk sings about the simple subject ofbeing patient with never ending problems in life, and trying to find a solution for them. This cut takes a rhythmical side-step to the rest of the album. The kick drum maps out a solid four-four, but the vocals and guitar lines move around it to impose Fesupanallah as being the record's most traditionally Turkish-sounding cut.

The album's closing track Ölüm Allah'ın Emri (another Manço classic) was recorded live in the band's more familiar surroundings of Krakow's Cheder Cafe during 2020's Jewish Culture Festival. The lyrics tell the tale of someone who has accepted death but cannot accept the separation that comes with it. We open with a dreamy, psychedelic mood before progressing into a heavy-riffing rock feeling with probing synths. Ulaş delivers his vocals over the top of a stripped back, shuffling groove. As the track progresses towards a frenetic conclusion, drummer Szymon Piotrowski cuts loose, combining with Grzegorz Dąbek's synth lines.

MLDVA & Çınar Timur's debut LP is not the sound of a band starting out. Taking time to hone their craft and let influences across the global spectrum of music mature, this is the result of years of jamming, gigging and collaborating. Now, after prestigious festival appearances and their place on Saz Power – an essential modern Turkish music compilation – they're making a lasting contribution to a rich, time-honored culture. MLDVA & Çınar Timur releases Friday 30 June 2023 on limited edition vinyl LP and digital download/streaming services on Shapes of Rhythm. Global distribution by Kudos Records.

Cyphon is proud to bring you brand new music from one of Europe’s pioneers of techno and IDM, Stefan Robbers aka Terrace and Florence. His early releases for Djax-Up-Beats and his own Eevo Lute Muzique in the early 90’s were hugely influential striking a sweet spot between stark minimalism, majestic analogue lushness and dance floor grooves. In more recent years his own reinterpretation of the Detroit sound can be found on the highly regarded Dutch label Delsin.

Here on his ‘Thermionic EP’ Terrace sings out with such intensity that minds are blown. Listen to the brutal, exhilarating sequences of ‘Territorial’ which leads the new EP, and you will receive that message loud and clear. While the music is as much about the consequence of soulful depth, it is also about edgy machines communicating intimately. Sweet chords fuse and then contrast with grainy acidic sonics, leaving the tempo poised at an irresistible pace like all our futures depended on it.

As you move next onto the more subtle electro pulse of ‘Thermon’, shimmering keys dance around a frame-by-frame remembrance of robotic disco in the 23rd century. The uplifting brilliance of ‘Woodward’ follows filling the void with an explosion of colour that is all about life-affirming instrumentation, hitting you fast and loose with a cascade of arpeggios, tough drums plus an incendiary surge of melodic distraction causing the airwaves to crackle with celebration.

Completing this stunning release from Terrace are the fierce, hotwired grooves forged by ‘Ritual’, conjuring up endless combinations of an analogue model rediscovered. The sheer dancefloor animation found within each of Terrace’s productions on this EP purposefully point to and enhance Cyphon Recordings own mission to explore, propelling the emphasis forever forwards.

DJ Support:

Sean Johnston, Kevin Reynolds, Vince Watson, Gareth Sommerville, Daniele Baldelli, Dj Rocca, Massimiliano Pagliara, Craig Smith, Jason Kendig, Rarish & Yoshi Horino

World-renowned Indian musician Ravi Shankar’s Shankar Family & Friends was originally released in 1974. Produced by George Harrison, this was one of the first album releases on Dark Horse Records. Its East-meets-West musical styles puts Western musicians such as Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Jim Keltner, Klaus Voorman, and Nicky Hopkins side-by-side with Indianmusic pioneers Alla Rakha, Ashish Khan, Shivkumar Sharma and Hariprasad Chaurasia. The album contains the first single issued on Dark Horse, “I Am Missing You,” featuring Lakshmi Shankar on vocals backed by a full Western rock band. Out of print for many years, the album was last reissued on CD in 2010 as part of the Collaborations boxset. Dark Horse is proud to present the original album remastered and reissued as a standalone release for the first time on CD and orchid purple color vinyl.

RAWAX proudly welcomes Tim Harper to the family! We are very happy to present you Tim's own Series on CHIWAX,
called Tim Harper Trax Series. We will release here Tim's past and present productions. Starting with "Enter The Dragon" from 1995,
formerly released on famous Relief Records.

Jamie Jones and Lee Foss’ Hot Creations welcomes a loaded new EP as Andre Salmon, Michael Joseph and Lexlay collaborate across four tracks for their ‘Momii’ EP.

Home to stand-out collaborations such as Todd Terry and Riva Starr’s recent ‘This Is The Sound’ through to classics such as Jamie Jones and The Martinez Brothers’ ‘Bappi’, Hot Creations has always been a platform and label pairing unique and exciting artist combinations with impressive results.

Closing July, the label now invites a stacked selection of artists for a big collaborative release as label signee Andre Salmon returns for his second release on the imprint and combines with Orlando’s Michael Joseph and Barcelona’s Lexlay, also featuring Figio, Francis Davila and Cami Jones.

The three main featured artists take the helm on the title track ‘Momii’ for a skippy and slick lead effort, while Salmon and Joseph link with Milan’s Figio’s for the snaking, percussion-driven ‘Aquarium’. Next, the three lead names unite once more and combine rumbling low-ends and lively hats on the bubbling ‘Left Hand’, before Salmon and Joseph once again link with fresh talent as Francis Davila joins the party, working warping synths and rolling drums around the alluring vocals of Cami Jones.